This year’s Silicon Valley Boomer Venture Summit held a Business Plan Competition where entrepreneurs and leading venture capitalists met with one thing in common: they invest in or serve the 45 year-old boomer consumer.
The Summit is a good place to learn where and why VCs are investing heavily in the boomer market and to learn from key analysts about how they segment the market and evaluate opportunities.
Client Gilbert Guide sponsored the sponsor and speaker dinner last night at Santa Clara University in Silicon Valley.
Below a sample of shots I took at the gathering, which brought together vendors, VCs and service providers for all things related to the aging market.
Leading authority on the Baby Boom generation Mary Furlong speaks to the crowd
Aging in Place Laurie Orlov, SilverRide’s Jeff Maltz, Gilbert Guide’s Jill Gilbert and Renee Blodgett
Caring.com’s Andy Cohen, Elisa Camahort, Jill Gilbert, Laurie Orlov, Jeff Maltz, Mary Furlong, Safa Rashtchy and AARP’s Jody Holtzman
Foodie Mollie Katzen, AARP’s Jody Holtzman and Mary Furlong
Jill Gilbert and Elisa Camahort
Dinner keynote speaker Safa Rashtchy
firstStreet’s Bud Myers
Jill Gilbert and Andy Cohen
In addition, I connected with SilversSummit’s Susan Ayers Walker and Michael Sarfatti – they run the SilversSummit at CES every year.
I also had a chance to see a demo of MyGait’s new GO, senior computing made easy and chat with Christopher Carbajal about the market.
Others in the mix included speakers and finalists Karen Routt of Magnolia Prime, HeartMath’s Catherine Calarco, TravelingHealth’s Deanna Burnett-Keeper, and MarchFriday’s Marfrisa Geronimo Gipner, to name a few.
Renee Blodgett is the founder of We Blog the World. The site combines the magic of an online culture and travel magazine with a global blog network and has contributors from every continent in the world. Having lived in 10 countries and explored nearly 80, she is an avid traveler, and a lover, observer and participant in cultural diversity.
She is also the CEO and founder of Magic Sauce Media, a new media services consultancy focused on viral marketing, social media, branding, events and PR. For over 20 years, she has helped companies from 12 countries get traction in the market. Known for her global and organic approach to product and corporate launches, Renee practices what she pitches and as an active user of social media, she helps clients navigate digital waters from around the world. Renee has been blogging for over 16 years and regularly writes on her personal blog Down the Avenue, Huffington Post, BlogHer, We Blog the World and other sites. She was ranked #12 Social Media Influencer by Forbes Magazine and is listed as a new media influencer and game changer on various sites and books on the new media revolution. In 2013, she was listed as the 6th most influential woman in social media by Forbes Magazine on a Top 20 List.
Her passion for art, storytelling and photography led to the launch of Magic Sauce Photography, which is a visual extension of her writing, the result of which has led to producing six photo books: Galapagos Islands, London, South Africa, Rome, Urbanization and Ecuador.
Renee is also the co-founder of Traveling Geeks, an initiative that brings entrepreneurs, thought leaders, bloggers, creators, curators and influencers to other countries to share and learn from peers, governments, corporations, and the general public in order to educate, share, evaluate, and promote innovative technologies.
